I live in the margins of technology. As one of the last independent inquiry analysts and the only generalist, I look for things others don’t see. My strength is looking beyond what is reported into the implications and outcomes. I live for the “why” behind an event, the spark of humor, and especially the drama. That’s my passion and why I’m an analyst. I have an AA in Merchandising, BS in Business, an MBA and trained to be a CMA. I build my own PCs, play video games (strategy), and have a Treadmill Desk. Currently I'm building two homes in Belize.

Now calling Steve Jobs a liar after death seems pretty ballsy to me particularly given Schmidt didn’t seem to want to do this during Steve Jobs life. But he could be right and Steve Jobs’ could have been delusional, the “Reality Distortion Field” was his invention after all. On the other hand Schmidt has been testifying in front of congress of late and coming across to some with little credibility suggesting he could be the delusional one.

Working from the Wikipedia Timelines (seems appropriate since this is about Google) for both products, Eric Schmidt’s tenure on Apple’s board, and Jobs comments let’s see of Jobs belief that Schmidt and Google stole from Apple holds together.

So given our fondness for trials this year let’s create a Moot Court with you as the jury and look at the facts.

Facts:

Eric Schmidt joined Apple’s board in 2006 a decade after leaving Sun and had and 5 years after joining Google in 2001. He held that board position until he was forced to resign in 2009 (let’s be serious he was fired) for conflicts of interest related to his position as Google’s CEO. Clearly, Apple’s board thought Schmidt had crossed a line but since Jobs was known to drive his board this isn’t really as telling as it might otherwise be.

Apple’s (we’ll use this timeline for the iPhone) first visible phone was the ROKR, a failed joint project with Motorola that launched in September 2005. Given (using this Android timeline) Google bought the company – Android Inc. – that developed Android in August of that same year you could argue that Apple followed Google, but this was a small acquisition and not widely reported. Android was lost and on life support prior to Google’s purchase and only still alive thanks to an envelope of cash ($10,000) they got from ex-Microsoft executive Steve Pearlman who now runs OnLive. Is short it wasn’t going anyplace before Google bought it, and apparently not doing much in the time between the purchase and Schmidt joining Apple’s board. In short Google bought a concept but seemed to be struggling with a direction for it prior to Schmidt joining Apple otherwise we would have seen some result.

Going to the Google timeline there is no evidence that Google was even interested in phones prior to the acquisition of the Android team. In fact, they seemed to be mostly focused on expanding search and increasingly making copies of Microsoft products like Hotmail. Eventually, in 2006, they bought a company that allowed them to go after Microsoft Office, at the same time Schmidt joined Apple’s board. They didn’t have a good target for Android initially, and so it appeared to stall.

Jobs announced the iPhone in February 2007, and it was released the following June, but it clearly had been defined over the years following the ROKR and finalized in the year after Schmidt joined Google - and he would have been intimate with that effort. Google announced Android the following November and the two from hardware through interface were pretty similar. In China, and apparently for a time at Sears, the differences were surprisingly slight.

With the iPad, Jobs hid that product from Schmidt and Google and Google’s tablet efforts, coincidently, haven’t been as impressive.

The fact that Google copies isn’t in dispute. They clearly have copied Microsoft and really there is nothing wrong with that other than trying to argue the efforts (other than price) are innovative. The sequence of events suggest that someone got the idea of doing a phone before Apple locked down on the iPhone, but after the ROKR, and were unsure as to what to create. That was until the iPhone emerged at Apple and then they created a very similar, though initially inferior product. So we have historical behavior that showcases Google copies, we have motive (to build a better phone), and with Schmidt on the board we have opportunity.

Guilty or Innocent?

In this case you are the jury and you can either buy Eric Schmidt’s explanation of an immaculate birth for Android at Google or Jobs’s explanation which suggests Schmidt mirrored Apple’s efforts.

Form your own opinion: are Google and Schmidt innocent victims of Steve Jobs’ paranoia or did they steal another idea from another company, this time one that trusted them?

Google, when it comes to innovation, you’re no Apple. If you want to be, just remember Steve Jobs’ final words to your CEO: “Figure out what Google wants to be when it grows up. It’s now all over the map. Google was making products that are adequate but not great, they’re turning you into another Microsoft”. Or start being a better Google: with Search and products like Maps you have shown you can be better than just a poor copy of someone else.

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Clearly, there is no question that Google stole UI (user interface) design from Apple. Early Android prototypes that were BlackBerry knock-offs make that point clear enough. There is no debate on this point, but this article asks about Schmid’ts role.

Schmidt’s role in this process is probably up for debate. I certainly don’t know for sure. I do know that as a member of Apple’s board of directors and friend of Steve Jobs, he was in a position to understand Apple’s strategic goals. Did he use that in his favor? Probably.

I do find Schmidt’s counter arguments to be a bit disingenuous though. He claims that Google’s Android efforts predates Apple’s iPhone project. That’s unlikely for several reasons.

First, as good as Apple is, it’s unlikely that Apple could develop their first phone (both hardware and software) in just two years.

Second, Apple (Jobs) publicly discussed interest in cell phones back in 2003 when asked about doing another PDA.

Third, when Apple partnered on the Rokr in 2005, I specifically remember comments about how this project was used to provide valuable insight into the mobile phone business. That comment from Jobs was essentially the beginning of the iPhone rumors.

Fourth, Jobs has also indicated that efforts to design and build an OS and user interface for a tablet predates Apple’s iPhone specific project. Much of this work was later retrofitted for a phone.

The information above paints a picture of recognizing the value of the smart phone market before there really was much of a market. It demonstrates that Apple knew there was a lot to learn about the market. As Palm’s Colligan once said, “they’re not going to just walk in” when speaking of Apple entering the market with the iPhone. Clearly, Apple understood that. The Rokr project provided the insight into the market along with lessons learned. Apple also understood that just entering the market as a “me too” player wasn’t going to make much of a splash. Apple does UI best and they knew they had to re-invent the smart phone UI.

In the end, Schmidt may be telling the truth on a technical basis when speaking specifically of the exact “iPhone project”. However, in the context of understanding Apple’s overall plan of entering the phone market, I’d have to say that his comments are disingenuous at best. He knew what Apple was up to and as an Apple board member (and friend of Jobs) he had confidence in Jobs’ vision and direction. Likewise, I don’t find Google’s interest in the same market much of a coincidence.

Google invented the Android OS. Did they steal some Apple IP in order to do it? It certainly seems plausible but can anyone (including the writer) say so for sure? When a smoking gun surfaces, then I’d say we should be judgmental but for now why can’t everyone appreciate what Google did with Android? It is things that iOS is not and it has made iOS better for it. As a consumer, I am glad that I have other options besides Apple for (admittedly their great idea) for a touch phone. I would even consider paying Apple a royalty but put the tiger back in the box? No way, it’s out and Android is very compelling even for an Apple lover like me. I recently switched to a Droid 3 and compared it to an iPhone 4S and I returned the iPhone–just my taste, nothing personal.

Judging by the way you present “facts” here, the title of your article should not be:

“You The Jury: Is Google’s Schmidt Guilty Or Innocent Of Stealing From Apple?” but rather:

“Google’s Schmidt Guilty Of Stealing From Apple”

because there is no question that this is what you believe.

This article would have been more persuasive (at the very least more interesting) if you could have presented some shred of the counter-argument. This way, when you disprove this as marlarky, you would be more subtly concealing your obvious bias.

Eric Schmidt is definitely guilty. I’ve worked in the tech industry for over 30 years and have seen this pattern before, Google had no interest or development in mobility before the iPhone and keep in mind that Apple had been working with Motorola since 1992 on cell phone enabled Apple Messagepads (called Marconi), so Apple had a long history of mobility development. Google did not even exist until 1996, 4 years after Apple already went through its first generation life cycle.

Where is our opinion? I admit that this is true. These days the more lies we have more we have the economy gloom. Friday, 11 November 2011 Mitt Romney insisted, on Wednesday that he has been consistent in his position on the auto bail outs, calling it a mistake for the federal government to have to save GM and Chrysler. Herman Cain again cast himself as a victim of “character assassination “deserve better than someone being tried in the court of public opinion based opinion based on unfounded accusation” This enough to put all on alert as we have politicians who never tell us truth. The Republicans would love another recession before the 2012 election. I’m better off now than I was three years ago. However, I know there are people suffering. I also know we have to bring in immigrants to do work Americans are too lazy or uneducated to do. I have not always been as well off as I am today. I’ve lost everything and had to start over again. I never went on unemployment, never been on food stamps, never been on welfare, no government backed loans, no handout from the government ever. But I have lived on Ramon Noodles and was glad to get that. I was so poor at one time that I lost forty pounds from lack of food. We are going to be fine as a nation. Recovery takes time. The best thing we can do is study the Eisenhower presidency because we were in a very similar situation in the early 1950s with the debt left from WW2. What the Republicans are proposing today is not going to work. Peace and thank you to all the veterans. OBAMA 2012 The day following Thanksgiving officially kicks off the Christmas shopping season. It has come to be known as Black Friday, indicating the period in which retailers start to turn a profit, or enter the black, each year. The entire “black week” continues through the weekend, with Monday now known as Cyber Monday. Loyal shoppers can either take the day off or continue shopping, even though they have officially returned to work. Last year, an estimated 49% of Cyber Monday purchases were made from computers at office locations. If you can react the same way to winning and losing, that’s a big accomplishment. That quality is important because it stays with you the rest of your life, and there’s going to be a life after tennis that’s a lot longer than your tennis life. – Chris Evert I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA